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Posted by Emilie Smith | November 14, 2017 | Comments Off on Get Ready for the 2018 WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards®!

The time is almost here — the WeddingWire Couples’ Choice Awards® winners will be announced in January! Each year we recognize the top 5% of WeddingWire professionals for their commitment to quality, service, responsiveness, and professionalism in the industry through the reviews of more than a million newlywed couples.

To qualify for the 2018 award, you must have received at least 5 new reviews in 2017. You have until December 31, 2017 to collect reviews from this year’s clients!

See these 3 easy tips for collecting more reviews:

Start with gratitude

Email or write a handwritten note to your past clients congratulating them on their nuptials and letting them know how thankful you are that they chose you to share a part of their special day. Your sincerity will be appreciated and will reinforce why they selected your business. Be sure to invite them to leave you a review on WeddingWire, and make it clear that their feedback matters to your business and future couples.

Showcase your reviews

You’ve earned great reviews, so let your past clients help sell your business for you! Add your reviews to your website, printed materials, and social media to help set you apart from the competition. Byshowcasing your reviews, your clients will notice how committed you are to producing excellent work — and will be encouraged to leave you a review when their wedding is complete since it clearly matters to your business.

Make it easy

After spending months planning a wedding, sometimes couples want a break from their to-do list. Luckily, WeddingWire makes leaving a review easy for both you and your clients! Simply share a direct link to yourpersonalized review URL, or send an automated email from theReview Collector to request reviews from your clients. Providing them a quick and easy way to share a few words about their experience with you greatly increases the chance they will write a review. After all,1 in 5 coupleswill write a review when asked, and that number increases to 1 in 3 if they are reminded at least once!

Request reviews from your 2017 clients and set yourself up for more business in 2018!

At the Networking Night, wedding professionals had the opportunity to enjoy a historic event space while networking over light fare in the venue’s Mansion, Ballroom & Carriage House. Guests met other local vendors across all service categories as well as members of the WeddingWire team. Plus, they learned local-industry statistics and insights on working with millennial couples in the wedding industry, presented by WeddingWire’s Regional Manager of Customer Success, Megan Hayes!

Thank you to all the wonderful pros who joined us! We’re excited to share highlights from the event includingthe educational presentation, our latest issue of WedInsights, and photos from the lovely evening below. For additional photos from the evening, check out our gallery!

We would like to say a special thank you to the amazing event partners who helped make the evening possible:

Posted by Emilie Smith | November 1, 2017 | Comments Off on Make a Stunning Impression with WeddingWire 3D Tours

Premium members can now showcase their venue like never before! Give potential clients a tour of your property, anywhere with a WeddingWire 3D Tour — now included with your Spotlight, Featured, or Professional venue listing in select regions.

A 3D tour transforms the way couples can view your venue by providing them with a virtual walkthrough of your property. Compared to traditional photos and videos, an interactive 3D tour gives couples the most realistic experience aside from physically visiting your venue — and lets them easily view your space right on your WeddingWire Storefront, prior to contacting you. It’s a great way to attract more qualified leads.

Interested in a WeddingWire 3D Tour? The process is easy!

Step one: Fill out this form, and include available dates for the photo shoot, descriptions of interior and exterior areas, and a floor plan if available. Once submitted, we’ll contact you to confirm your photo shoot and coordinate timing and logistics.

Step two: On the day of the photo shoot we recommend preparing your venue the same way that you would for a wedding to help prospective clients visualize the space for their big day – make sure everything is clean, decorated and well-lit. Keep in mind that the camera will capture rich details of your space for users to explore and zoom. The photo shoot typically take 2 to 3 hours, but can vary based on the complexity of your floor plan and square footage. We will calculate the amount of time needed based on the details you provide in your form and schedule accordingly.

Step three: We’ll create a high-quality 3D tour of your venue and add it to your WeddingWire Storefront. This process will take approximately three weeks. After it is uploaded, you will also receive a 3D Tour icon in the vendor directory.

Did you know that nearly 18% of all engagements occur in December alone? Now is the time to start tuning up your online presence in preparation for these couples. During our October webinar, Education Guru Alan Berg shared his best tips for tuning up your Storefront to help you connect with more couples this engagement season.

Here are the top four ways that you can take action now and strengthen your Storefront:

Make sure you have an aspirational thumbnail image that stands out.Even though it’s small, your thumbnail image is very important! That tiny picture could make or break a couple’s decision to click to your Storefront. When a couple sees that image, you want them to feel emotionally connected and think, “Wow, I want to be just like that couple!” This can be achieved by selecting a lovely lifestyle image of a happy couple at their wedding. Remember: It’s not about the flowers, the food, the music, or any other service you provide, it’s about making couples feel like they can achieve their dream wedding with you.

Take action:

Does your thumbnail image have a photo of a happy couple? If not, change it! We know this can be tricky for some categories, but be creative with it! If you’re a caterer, we know you don’t want to show a couple with a mouth full of food, but you do want to show a couple interacting with your food. If you’re a videographer, use a photo of you filming a couple with a beautiful scene in the background. The default choice should always be a happy couple, no matter your category.

Test it on mobile. Couples are browsing through Storefronts on their phones, so take a moment to ensure that your thumbnail is compatible. Is it missing the detail you were trying to show? Did you turn the couple into headless horsemen? If so, fix it!

Look at your competition’s thumbnail images in your category. Make sure that your image stands out and is the best reflection of your ideal client so that you will attract more of those engaged couples to click on your page.

Update your Storefront albums with lifestyle images.Great work! Your beautiful thumbnail image has now led a couple to click on your Storefront. The first thing that they will do now is look at your photos. Remember that more is not better. Better is better! Your goal is to get them to contact you, so your job here is to guide them through the best examples of your work, with plenty of lifestyle images of happy couples that they can instantly relate to and be inspired by. Lite members can share 5 photos, while Premium members can upload up to 100 photos per album.

Take action:

Review your current albums to assess the feeling that they convey to couples. Do you have a balance of inspiring lifestyle photos mixed in with designed detail shots? Similar to thumbnail selection, make sure the photos you choose to place in your album will transport a couple to envisioning their own big day.

Organize your albums into relevant categories (and consider doing some editing down). Think about the best ways to sort your photos. For example, if you are a caterer, you can create albums titled “Cocktail Hour,” “Dessert Tables,” “Plated Reception,” “Buffet Reception,” “Bar & Beverages,” etc. This will help couples navigate your photos and find images that reflect the wedding they envision. Make sure you have just enough photos to give a strong first impression of your work, but not so many that a couple gets lost and overwhelmed. Focus on quality over quantity; 50 photos in one album is probably too many.

Captivate couples using your reviews.After your thumbnail image and your Storefront photos, the next thing a couple will look at is your reviews. The more reviews you have, the more engaged couples will be able to see the consistency of your work and the way past couples feel about you. The more recent your reviews, the more a couple will be able to see that your business is presently providing a great service. Couples care what you did last week or last month, not so much what you did over a year ago! While having a ton of reviews is great, it’s not the only thing couples are considering when they are looking at your reviews. Couples are also looking at the recency, your responses, and emotional keywords that can connect them to experiences you provided other couples.

Take action:

Update your highlighted review. Premium members can highlight a review;choose a review that is recent, short-to-medium in length and uses great emotional words at the beginning. Don’t pick the longest review you’ve ever received. Couples are likely to skim, so you want them to quickly get the gist when reading through. This doesn’t have to be your most recent review, but it should ideally be one from the same calendar year.

Respond to all reviews and make sure your responses include personal details about that couple’s day. These responses should be written with future couples in mind and show that you are engaged with the couple from start to finish.

Make sure you are always ASKING for reviews. To find out what you can be doing to get more reviews, see this post. And don’t forget, 5 new reviews in 2017 will make you eligible for the upcoming Couples’ Choice Awards!

Read all of the text on your Storefront out loud.Take the time to read through your About section and FAQ (and all the text on your Storefront); as silly as it might feel, do it out loud! Does it include language you wouldn’t normally use when you are describing your business over the phone or in a meeting? Does it include old services that you no longer offer? Question every sentence to make sure that you are describing your business accurately and using language that connects directly with the couple reading it.

Take action:

Change any language that doesn’t sound like you are talking to a couple! You want to send a consistent message and sound relatable. Don’t forget that couples are often looking for a vendor that they can connect with, not just someone who provides a service. You are important to them, so they want to feel that connection with you.

Add a call to action. The couple is on your Storefront after all, so you’ve already gotten them this far! Tell them what they should do next (contact you!). This provides a sense of direction and urgency. Let them know that you look forward to connecting with them about their big day.

Stay tuned for more engagement season tune-up tips over the coming weeks including website tips, client communication strategies, and more.

Millennials (also known as Gen Y), whose current age ranges from 16-34, account for roughly 25% of today’s US population – making them the largest living generation. As of 2017, U.S. Millennials are estimated to spend roughly $200 billion annually, make up 75% of the workplace and comprise the majority of the consumer market within the next 10 years.

Why does this matter for your business? The Millennial generation is at the age where major life events are taking place, like graduating, buying a house, and getting married. In fact, more than 80% of WeddingWire couples are Millennials! Knowing where they are in their life stages is key for understanding how to communicate with this important group.

Millennials are willing to spend more to personalize their weddings

Over the past 10 years we’ve continued to see overall guest count decrease, regardless of age, whereas the total spend per guest is on the rise. Couples are willing to spend extra on each guest in order to really personalize their big day and make it memorable and unique. On average, millennials spend $31,000 on their wedding, whereas GenXers spend $24,000 on fewer guests. A few other points of differentiation between Millennials and their older counterparts:

Engagement Length: 13 months for Millennials, 11 months for GenX

Number in Wedding Party: 10 for Millennials, 7 for GenX

Number of Vendors Hired: 11 for Millennials, 9 for GenX

87% of Millennials report having their smartphones on them at all times

Millennials are the “mobile generation” — everything they do or want to do can be done on-the-go, so a non-existent or poor mobile website can be an instant deal breaker for this group! Make mobile a priority by doing a full sweep of your online properties from your mobile website to your emails, and make sure the content is easily digestible (and layout is responsive) on smartphones and tablet devices.

Nearly all (89%) of Millennials report using social media

Millennials spend about 5 ½ hours on social media daily, most of the time via mobile devices, so it’s important for your business to have an active presence online. Make sure to post interesting, relevant content that will grab their attention. Keep your content visual and whimsical by incorporating useful videos, tips or advice! Use hashtags to focus on key topics and don’t forget to interact with followers, prospective clients and other industry professionals.

Remember: Just because we’re focusing on Millennials, these tips and tricks are relevant for ALL of your customers. Thinking about age and generation is one helpful way to think about where you customers are in their life stage and how can you best serve and meet their needs!

This week, local wedding professionals gathered at The Grand Baltimore for WeddingWire Networking Night Baltimore!

At the Networking Night, wedding professionals had the opportunity to enjoy an art deco event space while networking over light fare. Guests met other local vendors across all service categories as well as members of the WeddingWire team. Plus, they learned local-industry statistics and insights on working with millennial couples in the wedding industry, presented by WeddingWire’s Regional Manager of Customer Success, Megan Hayes!

Thank you to all the wonderful pros who joined us! We’re excited to share highlights from the event includingthe educational presentation, our latest issue of WedInsights, and photos from the lovely evening below. For additional photos from the night, check out our gallery!

We would like to say a special thank you to the amazing event partners who helped make the evening possible:

It has been difficult to find the words for the tragic events that took place in Las Vegas last week, but it was humbling to witness the outpouring of love and acts of kindness throughout the Las Vegas community and beyond. We are grateful for the wedding community of professionals who came together to turn a time of tragedy into a week of uplifting unity and support. Despite the unfortunate events, the community of wedding professionals at Wedding MBA came together to connect, learn and celebrate unity.

The week was filled with educational presentations, networking, and plenty of selfies (with confetti!) at the WeddingWire booth. WeddingWire Education Experts and WeddingWire CMO Sonny Ganguly held nine educational sessions covering a wide variety of topics from tech trends to social media to closing sales and more.

The WeddingWire booth was enjoyed by all, featuring a large LED screen displaying real-time Instagram posts from conference goers using #WeDoWMBA. Selfie and boomerang booths were set up in front of fun backdrops with bubbles and confetti galore. The hoodie and t-shirt giveaways were a hit, in addition to one-on-one meetings with Customer Success Managers, a coffee bar, a beauty bar, and so much more!

In the spirit of unity, WeddingWire partnered with The Knot to turn our scheduled parties into one joint fundraiser in support of the Las Vegas victims and community. The fundraiser was held on Tuesday, October 3rd at Jewel Nightclub at the ARIA Resort and Casino. WeddingWire and The Knot each donated $5 per attendee totaling $16,000 given to the Las Vegas Victims’ fund on top of the suggested $10 donation for attendees.

To see more photos check out the full album here. For more event takeaways and to stay up-to-date on all the latest WeddingWire happenings for wedding professionals, be sure to follow WeddingWireEDU on Instagram.

To help the victims of the Vegas tragedy, you can donate to the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund at http://wed.li/helpvegas.

Clients can now add photos along with their review on your WeddingWire Storefront to help you attract future bookings.

Photos bring a visual perspective to written reviews and showcase the experience of working with a vendor. When used alongside written reviews, photos are a great way to build credibility and allow couples to see a glimpse of your past work. Photos also create a unique Storefront experience and provide the opportunity to increase user engagement, helping couples solidify their decision to book you for their wedding.

Here’s a peek of how it will look on your WeddingWire Storefront:

There’s no better time to request reviews from recent clients and encourage them to share photos of your amazing work. For tips on collecting, managing and using your reviews in creative ways see these articles:

On September 9th the WeddingWire team was thrilled to join hundreds of inspiring and entrepreneurial women as a sponsor of Create & Cultivate’s Seattle Conference. Hosted on Microsoft’s Campus, the day was filled with impactful workshops, meaningful mentor sessions, and empowering discussions, including the “Radically Creative” panel featuring WeddingWire’s own Jeffra Trumpower, Associate Director, Content + Creative Services. Attendees also enjoyed delicious cocktails, food, pop-up shops, photo booths, gift bags and of course a WeddingWire Confetti bar (where many “boomerang” videos ensued!).

If you aren’t familiar with Create & Cultivate, it is an organization for women who are “looking to create and cultivate the career of their dreams”. C&C gathers the next generation of curious creatives, entrepreneurs, and “girl bosses” to spark conversation around the topics they are passionate about including brand building, small business strategy and influencer marketing. Along with all of these talented and like-minded influencers, entrepreneurs, and event professionals, WeddingWire was joined by other influential brands such as Microsoft, Refinery29, La Croix, GoDaddy, Express, Shopstyle and more. We, along with many others, left feeling inspired and empowered to bring our learnings back to WeddingWire HQ.

At the Networking Night, wedding professionals had the opportunity to enjoy an art deco event space while networking over light fare. Guests met other local vendors across all service categories as well as members of the WeddingWire team. Plus, they learned local-industry statistics and social, mobile & tech trends for your business, presented by WeddingWire’s Chief Marketing Officer, Sonny Ganguly.

Thank you to all the wonderful pros who joined us! We’re excited to share highlights from the event includingthe educational presentation, our latest issue of WedInsights, and photos from the lovely evening below. For additional photos from the night, check out our gallery!

We would like to say a special thank you to the amazing event partners who helped make the evening possible:

Here at WeddingWire, we continually promote the importance of understanding today’s couples, largely millennials who want a personalized experience that might not closely mirror the weddings of yesterday. At WeddingWire World DC on August 14-15, we assembled a panel of trend experts for a discussion about “Understanding the Diverse Needs of Today’s Couples”, including Chezelle Rodriguez, Destination Wedding & Event Specialist at CD Weddings; Jacqueline Nwobu, CEO & Editor-in-Chief of Munaluchi Bride Magazine and Anne Chertoff, WeddingWire Trend Expert.

Attendees were treated to insider secrets on how to appeal to and best serve today’s couples, whether they be straight or LGBTQ, of a different ethnicity or religion. Here are the top five takeaways:

There’s no “I” in team.

Although all couples are looking for different skills and qualities in their wedding vendors, modern couples really want a “wedding team”. That means they’re not just looking for a caterer to come in, set up food and leave. They want to know who you are, what your values are and how you’ll fit into their overall vision. So, don’t be afraid to show your personality to couples on social media!

Little details help when you’re in uncharted territory.

There’s a first time for everything. Maybe you’ve never served a same-sex couple before, but you’ve just signed a contract with a gay couple. Or, perhaps, you’ve mainly done non-denominational ceremonies, but your newest client wants a traditional Hindu wedding. Whatever the case, be sure to approach potential clients with the respect and industry knowledge that made them want to inquire with you in the first place. Of course, it helps to do your research before your first meeting, but, otherwise, be sure to listen actively, remember little things (like their names!) and be courteous — just as you would with all potential clients. Pretty soon, you’ll be confident and familiar with the couple and happy to add a new area of expertise to your portfolio.

Authenticity matters.

Weddings are highly personalized and it’s OK, if not preferred, to specialize in a certain aesthetic or style of wedding. This might mean that you turn down clients, or some clients won’t approach you, but it will also mean that you’ll spend your time working with couples who really enjoy the same style that you do. Millennials in particular are looking for wedding vendors with an authentic approach to their work, rather than a one-size-fits-all chameleon. This might come into play with a more curated Instagram feed or even working with other wedding vendors who have a similar style to create a styled shoot that represents your aesthetic.

Speaking of styled shoots...

They’re a great way to enter a new wedding market. For example, if you’re dying to book your first LGBTQ couple, but don’t have examples to show you know how to shoot or style a wedding for a same-sex couple, consider getting some of your favorite wedding pros together for a styled shoot. However, be strategic. Create a short list of wedding publications or websites where you can submit the styled shoot for maximum exposure before you spend the time and money to produce it. Also, when you’re sharing the shoot, be extra-careful to credit everyone who was involved!

Avoid the cookie-cutter approach.

This is a phrase you’ve likely heard from a lot of clients — “I don’t want a cookie cutter wedding.” While it’s true that most weddings follow a very similar time schedule (ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, possibly an after party), couples want you to infuse their wedding with their personality and love story. This means listening carefully and asking the right questions, like how did you meet; when did you fall in love; what are some of your favorite things to do as a couple? From here, you’re able to present your client with your vision for wedding details that are meaningful to them.

Thank you to all of the wedding professionals who joined us for World DC 2017!

Our team was thrilled to host WeddingWire World DC at the Washington Hilton on August 14-15. From engaging educational sessions, to interactive Success Workshops, to the networking reception (and everything in between!), we are still buzzing as we reflect on two amazing days.

Thank you to all of our attendees for the posts, comments, and memories shared! Be sure to catch up on all the action by checking out #WWWorld on Instagram and Twitter. We’ve also picked some of our favorite photos and compiled them in a full album on our Facebook page!

World DC 2017 highlights:

Educational sessions on dozens of topics including trends, SEO, hiring, networking, video marketing, personal brand, and so much more!

The opportunity for attendees to meet with our Customer Success team members one-on-one during the conference for WeddingWire account advice, tutorials, and more.

One of our all-time favorite keynote speakers, celebrity Fashion Director Monte Durham, of Bridals by Lori and TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta, joined us on the main stage and shared his insights into this year’s trends in wedding fashion and styles.

Engaging panel discussion on understanding the diverse needs of today’s couples and how to avoid a cookie cutter approach to weddings.

Four interactive Success Workshops with in-depth coaching on managing reviews, storefront improvements, new ways to get noticed, and lead replies.

The WeddingWire Lounge, including complimentary professional headshots taken on-site by Tania Hossain Photography, a meet and greet speaker table, and interactive booths by GayWeddings, LiveBooks, and WeddingWire 3D venue tours.

Special prizes and giveaways throughout both days – two GoPros given out for the best Instagram posts, a new smartphone, and more.

A lively Networking Reception, including delicious flatbreads, a fabulous cheese and appetizer spread, open bar, new connections, and a packed dance floor!

Finally, we’d like to extend one more big thank you to all the partners who made World DC 2017 possible: